Top Biz News

Wage dispute ends in kidnap drama

By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-26 09:11

A man is in custody and a woman is safe after a kidnap drama unfolded in Daxing district of Beijing on Sunday.

Police said the man took the woman hostage and set fire to a storehouse after he failed to get his earnings from a former employer.

The arrested man, surnamed Huang, who is in his 30s and from Chongqing municipality, allegedly went to his former workplace, a storehouse in Langgezhuang village, around midday on Sunday, hoping to get his salary.

He reportedly failed to get what he wanted when he met the storehouse director and spilled gasoline and set fire to the building at around 12:20 pm.

He then allegedly used a 1-m-long knife that he brought with him to take a female worker hostage.

The incident was over 20 minutes later when police subdued the alleged hostage taker. No one was injured in the incident.

Beijing police and the fire department arrived promptly at the scene but firefighters could not attack the flames until after the kidnap drama was over.

According to the Beijing News, police deployed a professional to talk to the hostage-taker. Several officers reportedly approached him discretely from behind and one grabbed his arm, pulling the knife away from the woman's neck.

Beijing police refused to say more, other than that the case was under investigation.

Tian Hua, a spokeswoman for Daxing district fire department, said the blaze was brought under control.

"We sent 10 fire engines and 70 firefighters to the scene. The storehouse was full of leather products which can easily catch fire, but we put out the fire in two hours," Tian told METRO yesterday. She added that about 4,000 sq m caught fire. The financial loss is not yet known.

Liu Ming, director of Xiaoxiaoniao Hotline, a Beijing based NGO dedicated to protecting the rights of migrant workers, said there was no excuse for the hostage-taking.

"Migrant workers are very keen to get their pay so they can go home to celebrate Chinese New Year with their families," Liu said. "But most of them have no idea where to seek help when they encounter this sort of problem."

According to Liu, migrant workers should either take an employer who defaults to court or visit the Human Resource and Social Security Bureau to file the case, but he stressed that the action can take a long time.

Xiaoxiaoniao's hotline currently receives 30 to 40 calls a day from migrant workers.